Temporal order judgements as a sensitive measure of the spatial bias in patients with visuospatial neglect

Visuospatial neglect is not a unitary phenomenon, but can be better considered a syndrome, consisting of a multitude of different spatial and non‐spatial components. In this study, we used a temporal order judgement (TOJ) test in a large sample of stroke patients (n = 73) to scrutinize the contribution of a spatial bias to the performance on shape cancellation and line bisection tests. In the TOJ test, patients were presented with two elements, one in each visual field, after which the one needed to indicate which of the two elements was presented earlier. For each visual field, the presentation of the stimuli was determined by a staircase procedure where the interval between the two stimuli was determined by the performance of the patient. Results indicated that the strength of the spatial bias was strongly correlated with an object cancellation test, but not with a line bisection test. We argue that these findings are explained by differences in the extent to which a spatial bias determines performance on both tasks: In contrast to shape cancellation tests, successful performance on line bisection tests depends primarily on an object‐based, allocentric representation of space, unrelated to any spatial bias in the detection of elements in the contralesional visual field.     

Action observation produces motor resonance in Parkinson's disease

Observation of movement activates the observer's own motor system, influencing the performance of actions and facilitating social interaction. This motor resonance is demonstrated behaviourally through visuomotor priming, whereby response latencies are influenced by the compatibility between an intended action and an observed (task‐irrelevant) action. The impact of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) on motor resonance is unclear, as previous studies of visuomotor priming have not separated imitative compatibility (specific to human movement) from general stimulus‐response compatibility effects. We examined visuomotor priming in 23 participants with mild‐to‐moderate PD and 24 healthy older adults, using a task that pitted imitative compatibility against general stimulus‐response compatibility. Participants made a key press after observing a task‐irrelevant moving human finger or rectangle that was either compatible or incompatible with their response. Imitative compatibility effects, rather than general stimulus‐response compatibility effects, were found specifically for the human finger. Moreover, imitative compatibility effects did not differ between groups, indicating intact motor resonance in the PD group. These findings constitute the first unambiguous demonstration of imitative priming in both PD and healthy ageing, and have implications for therapeutic techniques to facilitate action, as well as the understanding of social cognition in PD.     

Measuring Processing Fluency: One versus Five Items

While there is an ample amount of consumer behavior research that recruits processing fluency as an explanatory construct, the question how to best measure the fluency experience has received little attention. Therefore, there is a lack of consistency in measuring the construct, particularly with regard to the use of single‐item versus multi‐item measures. The current research, thus, aims to investigate how processing fluency can be consistently measured across different experimental fluency manipulations and which type of measure has the highest validity. Based on classic scale development procedures, we propose a reliable and valid multi‐item measure and compare this measure against a single‐item measure in terms of predictive validity. We show that both measures mediate the effect of five established fluency manipulations and that the single‐item measure is sufficient. In addition to providing a measure for future research that can be adapted to different empirical settings, we provide empirical evidence on the replicability of fluency effects and on the theoretical conjecture that people have a uniform fluency experience across different manipulations of fluency.     

Gender Differences in Escapist Uses of Sexually Explicit Internet Material: Results from a German Probability Sample

The intensity of using sexually explicit internet material (SEIM) is contingent on users’ gender. However, gender differences in the motivations for watching SEIM have not yet been comprehensively explored. Drawing on a representative survey of German internet users, we therefore analyze how women and men use SEIM to satisfy escapist needs. Lower life satisfaction, the lack of a committed relationship, and feelings of loneliness contribute to predicting the frequency of using SEIM among men. Loneliness likewise fosters the consumption of SEIM among women, yet the effect is less pronounced. For female internet users, consumption of SEIM even increases in committed relationships and rather indicates a comparably high level of life satisfaction than dissatisfaction with life circumstances. Gender hence substantially moderates the connection between need structures and the consumption of SEIM.     

The Relation of Self‐Control Demands to Job Strain: The Moderating Role of Organisational Commitment

Drawing on recent theoretical developments in cognitive and social psychology, self‐control demands were introduced as a new source of stress at work. Affective organisational commitment was expected to operate as a buffer in the relation between self‐control demands and indicators of job strain. Data provided by 260 nurses in homes for elderly people revealed both significant relationships of self‐control demands and commitment to a broad spectrum of strain indicators that included not only self‐report measures (burnout, psychosomatic complaints, intentions of quitting), but also a measure of absenteeism. Self‐control demands were positively related to all indicators of job strain, whereas the associations were negative for affective commitment. In addition, the results provided clear evidence for the buffer hypothesis of commitment. The positive relations of high self‐control demands to all strain indicators were attenuated as a function of affective commitment. The results suggest that the buffer effect of commitment is mainly due to stress‐contingent appraisal processes rendering highly committed employees less vulnerable to the adverse effects of high stress.     

Loading mobile phones in a multi-option society

As mobile phone saturation increases, operators find it harder and harder to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Telecommunications companies have had to develop strategies as quickly as the industry has developed, and in recent years have found themselves increasingly moving away from their core market of voice service provision to becoming anything from fashion brands to putative multimedia companies. From the consumer's perspective, Peter Gross and Stefan Bertschi discuss how a customer navigates such a 'multi-option' society. Bewildered by choices--not just in service level and provision but in the way these products are coded with brands that suggest identities and cultural behaviour--how is a consumer to relate to such a plurality of options?     

Integrity Tests and the Five‐Factor Model of Personality: A Review and Empirical Test of Two Alternative Positions

The psychological meaning of integrity test scores has been explored predominantly in relation to the five‐factor model of personality (FFM). Two alternative positions on this topic can be identified in the literature which state, respectively, that integrity tests measure (a) a higher‐order factor of personality covering three FFM dimensions or (b) a linear composite of numerous facets from various domains within the FFM. An empirical test of these alternative positions, using structural equation modeling, revealed that the value of both views depended on the type of integrity test examined. With a personality‐based integrity test, position (a) had to be refuted, whereas position (b) was strongly supported. There was also more supportive evidence for position (b) with an overt test, but the difference was far less pronounced than for the personality‐based measure. Possible consequences for theories on the role of personality in personnel selection are discussed.